Paper sheet processing device

ABSTRACT

A bill processing apparatus which is capable of reliably supplying information on a bill to the bill housing body side. The paper sheet processing apparatus has a bill housing part ( 100 ) being capable of housing a bill inserted from a bill insertion slot, and also a reader/writer ( 142 ) which wirelessly transmits information on the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot. The bill housing part ( 100 ) has a coil antenna ( 104   c ) which wirelessly receives the information transmitted from the reader/writer ( 142 ), and a storage part ( 104   b ) which stores the information on the bill received from the coil antenna ( 104   c ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a paper sheet processing apparatus (ordevice), which is incorporated into a service device such as varioustypes of gaming machines, automatic vending machines, and the like toprovide a product, a service, etc. upon insertion of a paper sheethaving an economic value such as a bill, a coupon, and the like.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, a bill processing apparatus, which is one of theembodiments of the above-mentioned paper sheet processing apparatus, isincorporated into a service device such as a gaming machine installed ina game hall or an automatic vending machine or a ticket vending machineinstalled in a public location, or the like, that identifies a validityof a bill inserted from an insertion slot by a user and provides varioustypes of products and services according to the value of the bill thathas been judged as valid. In general, such a bill processing apparatusjudges whether the bill having been inserted from the insertion slot istrue or false and stores the bill having been judged as true in ahousing body (safe) which is mountable to and demountable from the billprocessing apparatus.

In regard to the above-described bill processing apparatus, it is knownto provide the housing body with a storage part such that consistencybetween inserted bills and bills actually housed in the housing body canbe checked as disclosed in Patent Document 1. In particular, the billprocessing apparatus is configured such that a bill identificationcontrol circuit board is installed in a bill identification part on anapparatus main body side, a bill housing body control circuit board isinstalled on the housing body side, and communication between the two isenabled via a connection terminal. That is, by sending informationconcerning an inserted bill from the bill identification control circuitboard to the bill housing body control circuit board and storing thebill information at the storage part mounted on the bill housing bodycontrol circuit board, the information on the bills actually housed inthe housing body is stored and managed.

-   [Patent Document 1] Japanese unexamined patent application    publication No. 2005-18644

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

With the above-described bill processing apparatus disclosed in PatentDocument 1, a power and signal line and a pair of connection terminalsare disposed on the apparatus main body side while a pair of connectionterminals and a power and signal line are installed on the housing bodyside that is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body,whereby it is possible that the communications may be disabled by anelectrical contact failure between both pairs of connection terminalswhen the housing body is mounted onto the apparatus main body.

A paper sheet processing apparatus capable of reliably supplyinginformation concerning paper sheets to a housing body side is provided.

Means to Solve the Problem

A paper sheet processing apparatus comprises a housing part beingcapable of housing a paper sheet inserted from an insertion slot, and atransmitting part wirelessly sending information on the paper sheetinserted from the insertion slot, and the housing part comprises anantenna wirelessly receiving the information sent from the transmittingpart, and a storage part storing the information on the paper sheetreceived from the antenna. Further features of the present invention,its nature, and various advantages will be more apparent from theaccompanying drawings and the following description of the preferredembodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire structure to illustrate aconfiguration of a bill processing apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the bill processing apparatus in astate that an open/close member is opened for a main body frame of anapparatus main body.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a powertransmission part of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 4 is a right side view schematically showing a traveling route of abill to be inserted from an insertion slot.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a powertransmission mechanism for driving the presser plate arranged in a billhousing part.

FIG. 6 is a left side view showing a schematic configuration of adriving source and a driving force transmission mechanism to drive abill conveyance mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a bill processingapparatus.

FIG. 8 is a partially cut perspective view showing an interior of a billhousing part as viewed from a side direction.

FIG. 9 is a partially cut perspective view showing an interior of thebill housing part as viewed from a top.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing control means for controllingoperations of the bill processing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing schematically a configuration ofexternal devices to manage deposit information of housed bills in thebill processing apparatus.

FIG. 12A is a schematic view showing a configuration of a reader/writerand storage means arranged in a mounting-and-demounting direction of thebill housing part.

FIG. 12B is a schematic view showing a configuration of a reader/writerand storage means arranged in a vertical direction to themounting-and-demounting direction of the bill housing part.

FIG. 12C is a partially enlarged schematic view illustrating a distancechange between both points as the reader/writer and the storage meansare referred to as respective points in the case of FIG. 12A.

FIG. 12D is a partially enlarged schematic view illustrating a distancechange between storage means are referred to as respective points in thecase of FIG. 12B.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart (part one) illustrating processing operationsfor processing a bill in a bill processing apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart (part two) illustrating processing operationsfor processing a bill in a bill processing apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart (part three) illustrating processingoperations for processing a bill in a bill processing apparatus of thisembodiment.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating processing operations of atraveling route opening process.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a skew correction operatingprocess.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating processing operations of atraveling route closing process.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating processing operations of apresser plate driving process.

DESCRIPTION OF NOTATIONS

-   1 bill processing apparatus-   2 apparatus main body-   2A frame-   3 bill traveling route-   5 bill insertion slot-   6 bill conveyance mechanism-   8 bill reading means-   10 skew correction mechanism-   100 bill housing part-   104 storage means-   104 a board-   104 b storage part-   104 c coil antenna-   105 placing plate-   108 press standby part-   115 presser plate-   120 presser plate driving mechanism-   140 magnetic sensor-   140A magnet-   142 reader/writer-   200 control means-   260 management server-   280 management apparatus

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 to 9 are diagrams showing a bill processing apparatus of a papersheet processing apparatus as one of the embodiments according to thepresent invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a generalconfiguration thereof, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state thatan open/close member is opened for a main body frame of an apparatusmain body, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of apower transmission part of the apparatus main body, FIG. 4 is a rightside view schematically showing a traveling route of a bill insertedfrom an insertion slot, FIG. 5 is a view showing a schematicconfiguration of a power transmission mechanism to drive a presser platedisposed in a bill housing part, FIG. 6 is a left side view showing aschematic configuration of a driving source and a driving forcetransmission mechanism to drive a bill conveyance mechanism, FIG. 7 isan exploded perspective view showing a bill processing apparatus, FIG. 8is a partially cut perspective view showing an interior of a billhousing part as viewed from a side direction, and FIG. 9 is a partiallycut perspective view showing an interior of the bill housing part asviewed from a top.

A bill processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is configured to beincorporable into, for example, various types of gaming machines such asslot machines, and the bill processing apparatus 1 includes an apparatusmain body 2 and a bill housing part (bill stacker) 100 which is providedon the apparatus main body 2 and is capable of stacking and housing agreat number of bills. The bill housing part 100 has a function as asafe and is configured to be mountable to and demountable from a frame2A constituting the apparatus main body 2. In this embodiment, forexample, it is possible to remove the bill housing part 100 from theframe 2A of the apparatus main body 2 by pulling a handle 101 fixed to afront face thereof in a state that a lock mechanism (not shown) isunlocked.

Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the above-described bill processing apparatus1 is mainly constituted of three structural bodies. That is, the billprocessing apparatus 1 comprises the apparatus main body 2, a stand(frame member) 2D, in which the apparatus main body 2 is placed in amountable/demountable manner, and a bill housing part 100, installedinto the stand 2D in a mountable/demountable manner.

Here, a plate 2F that has installed thereon a circuit board 141 on whicha magnetic sensor 140 and a reader/writer 142 for reading and writinginformation from and onto storage means 104 disposed on an upper wall102 b of the paper sheet housing part so as to write bill informationthereon are implemented is installed onto a rear surface side of theapparatus main body 2 as a unit. The plate 2F is interposed between theframe 2A, constituting the apparatus main body, and a top surface of thestand 2D and is fixed between these components.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the apparatus main body 2 has the frame 2Aand an open/close member 2B configured to be opened and closed with itsone end as a rotating center with respect to the frame 2A. Then, asshown in FIG. 4, the frame 2A and the open/close member 2B areconfigured to form a space (bill traveling route) 3 through which a billis carried such that both frame and member face open/close member 2B isclosed for the frame 2A, and to form a bill insertion slot 5 such thatfront exposed faces of both frame and member are aligned and that thebill traveling route 3 exits at the bill insertion slot 5. In addition,the bill insertion slot 5 is a slit-like opening from which a short sideof a bill can be inserted into the inside of the apparatus main body 2.

In the apparatus main body 2, a bill conveyance mechanism 6 that conveysa bill; an insertion detecting sensor 7 that detects the bill insertedinto the bill insertion slot 5; bill reading means (including a readingdevice such as an optical information reading device and magneticinformation reading device and the like) 8 that is installed on adownstream side of the insertion detecting sensor 7 and readsinformation from the bill in a travelling state; a skew correctionmechanism 10 that accurately positions and conveys the bill with respectto the bill reading means 8; a movable piece passage detecting sensor 12that detects that the bill passes through movable pieces constitutingthe skew correction mechanism 10; a discharge detecting sensor 18 thatdetects that the bill is discharged into the bill housing part 100; apresser plate detecting sensor 23 for detecting a position of a presserplate 115 pressing the bill toward a placing plate 105 in the billhousing part 100; a sensor (magnetic sensor 140) for detecting whetherbills stacked and housed in the bill housing part 100 are in apredetermined state or not; and control means 200 (a control circuitboard 200A; refer to FIG. 10) for controlling the driving of the billconveyance mechanism 6, the bill reading means 8, the skew correctionmechanism 10, and so on are provided.

Hereafter, the respective components described above will be describedin detail. The bill traveling route 3 is extended from the billinsertion slot 5 toward the back side, and is formed to be bent so as tobe inclined downward at its rear side, and to be eventually bent in thevertical direction. A discharge slot 3 a from which the bill isdischarged into the bill housing part 100 is formed in the billtraveling route 3, and the bill discharged therefrom is fed into a feedport (receiving port) 103 of the bill housing part 100 in the verticaldirection.

The bill conveyance mechanism 6 is a mechanism capable of conveying abill inserted from the bill insertion slot 5 along the insertingdirection, and of conveying back the bill in an insertion state towardthe bill insertion slot 5. The bill conveyance mechanism 6 comprises amotor 13 (refer to FIG. 6) serving as a driving source installed in theapparatus main body 2; and conveyor roller pairs (14A and 14B), (15A and15B), (16A and 16B), and (17A and 17B) which are installed atpredetermined intervals along the bill traveling direction in the billtraveling route 3, and are driven to rotate by the motor 13.

The conveyor roller pairs are installed so as to be partially exposed onthe bill traveling route 3, and all the pairs are constituted of drivingrollers of the conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B, and 17B installed on theunderside of the bill traveling route 3 driven by the motor 13; andpinch-rollers of the conveyor rollers 14A, 15A, 16A, and 17A installedon the upperside and driven by the these driving rollers. In addition,the conveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) to first nip and holdtherebetween the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 5, and tocarry the bill toward the back side, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, isinstalled in one portion of the center position of the bill travelingroute 3, and a couple of the conveyor roller pairs (15A and 15B), (16Aand 16B), or (17A and 17B) being disposed in this order on thedownstream side thereof are respectively installed in a couple ofportions with a predetermined interval in the lateral direction of thebill traveling route 3.

Further, the conveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) disposed in the vicinityof the bill insertion slot 5 is usually in a state that the upperconveyor roller 14A is spaced from the lower conveyor roller 14B, andthe upper conveyor roller 14A is driven to move toward the lowerconveyor roller 14B to nip and hold the inserted bill therebetween wheninsertion of the bill is sensed by the insertion detecting sensor 7. Inaddition, the upper conveyor roller 14A is controllably driven to bepressed against or spaced from the conveyor roller 14B by a drivingsource 70 (refer to a block diagram of FIG. 10). The driving source maycomprise a motor, solenoid, and the like, and is installed in theopen/close member 2B.

Then, the upper conveyor roller 14A is spaced from the lower conveyorroller 14B so as to release the load on the bill when a process (skewcorrection process) for positioning the bill for the bill reading means8 by eliminating tilt of the inserted bill is executed by the skewcorrection mechanism 10, and the upper conveyor roller 14A is driven tomove toward the lower conveyor roller 14B again to nip and hold the billtherebetween when the skew correction process is completed. The skewcorrection mechanism 10 comprises a pair of right and left movablepieces 10A (only one side is shown) that perform skew correction and theskew correction process is performed by driving a motor 40 for a skewdriving mechanism.

The conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B and 173 installed on the underside ofthe bill traveling route 3 are, as shown in FIG. 6, driven to rotate viathe motor 13 and pulleys 14C, 15C, 16C, and 17C installed at the ends ofthe driving shafts of the respective conveyor rollers. That is, adriving pulley 13A is installed on the output shaft of the motor 13, anda driving belt 13B is wrapped around between the pulleys 14C, 15C, 16C,and 17C installed at the ends of the driving shafts of the respectiveconveyor rollers and the driving pulley 13A. In addition, tensionpulleys are engaged in places with the driving belt 13B, which preventsthe driving belt 13B from loosening.

In accordance with the configuration described above, when the motor 13is driven to normally rotate, the conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B, and17B are driven to normally rotate in synchronization therewith to carrythe bill toward the insertion direction. When the motor 13 is driven toreversely rotate, the conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B, and 17B are drivento reversely rotate in synchronization therewith to carry back the billtoward the bill insertion slot 5 side.

The insertion detecting sensor 7 is to generate a detection signal whena bill inserted into the bill insertion slot 5 is detected. In thisembodiment, the insertion detecting sensor 7 is installed between thepair of conveyor rollers (14A and 14B) and the skew correction mechanism10. The insertion detecting sensor 7 comprises, for example, an opticalsensor such as a regressive reflection type photo sensor. However, theinsertion detecting sensor 7 may comprise a mechanical sensor other thanthe optical sensor.

Further, the movable piece passage detecting sensor 12 is to generate asensed signal when it is sensed that a front end of the bill passesthrough a pair of right and left movable pieces 10A constituting theskew correction mechanism 10, and the movable piece passage detectingsensor 12 is installed on the upstream side of the bill reading means 8.The movable piece passage detecting sensor 12 also comprises an opticalsensor or a mechanical sensor in the same way as mentioned before withrespect to the insertion detecting sensor.

Further, the discharge detecting sensor 18 is to detect a trailing endof the bill passing through such that it is detected that the bill isdischarged into the bill housing part 100. The discharge detectingsensor 18 is disposed just in front of the receiving port 103 of thebill housing part 100 on the downstream side of the bill traveling route3. The discharge detecting sensor 18 also comprises an optical sensor ora mechanical sensor in the same way as the aforementioned insertiondetecting sensor.

The bill reading means 8 reads bill information on the bill carried in astate that the skew is eliminated by the skew correction mechanism 10(in a state that the bill is accurately positioned), and judges whetherthe bill is true or false. In detail, for example, the bill readingmeans 8 may comprise a line sensor that performs reading of the billsuch that a bill to be carried is irradiated with light from upper andlower sides, and transmitted light therethrough and reflected lighttherefrom are detected by a light receiving element. A line sensor isshown in the drawing, and an optical signal read by the line sensor isphotoelectric-converted, and the signal is compared and checked withdata of a legitimate bill stored in advance, which makes it possible toidentify the authenticity of the bill to be carried.

The bill housing part 100 stacks and houses bills one after anotherafter the bills are identified as being legitimate by the bill readingmeans 8.

As shown in FIG. 7, the main body frame 100A constituting the billhousing part 100 is formed into a substantially rectangularparallelepiped (or cuboid) shape, and one end of bias means (e.g., biasspring) 106 is attached to an interior side of a front wall 102 athereof, and a placing plate 105 on which bills to be fed via theabove-described receiving port 103 are sequentially stacked is providedto the other end thereof. Therefore, the placing plate 105 is in a statethat it is pressed toward the presser plate 115, which will be describedlater, by the bias means 106.

As mentioned above, the storage means 104 is mounted on the upper wall102 b of the main body frame 100A. The storage means 104 has a functionto store information concerning a bill and the like, which is sent in anoncontact manner from the apparatus main body 2 side, and isconstituted of an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag in thisembodiment. As shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 7, the storage means104 comprises an IC chip (storage part) 104 b which is implemented on aboard 104 a made of an insulating material, and a coil antenna 104 cwhich is printed on the board 104 a and has both ends thereof connectedto the IC ship 104 b. Although the storage means 104 constituted of anID tag is configured as in a passive type having no battery, it may alsobe configured as in an active type having a battery as well.

As mentioned above, the reader/writer 142 that writes information(mainly constituted of information about the bill identified as beingauthentic) into the storage means 104 is implemented on the circuitboard 141 disposed on the plate 2F mounted on the rear surface side ofthe apparatus main body 2 and wirelessly sends the bill information andthe like across a predetermined space to the storage means 104. That is,although not illustrated in detail, the reader/writer 142 disposed onthe circuit board 141 comprises a communications controller which isconstituted of a passive component such as an IC chip and an LCR and thelike, an antenna which is connected to the communications controller andsends the bill information and the like to the coil antenna 104 c of thestorage means 104, and a matching circuit which performs matching basedon an electromagnetic wave frequency to be used for communications andinput/output impedances, whereby these components are implemented on thecircuit board 141.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the main body frame 100A is so configuredthat a lower wall 102 c rotates in a direction of an arrow about aspindle 102 d such that the bills housed inside may be taken out.Therefore, the lower wall 102 c also has a function as anopening/closing door of the bill housing part 100.

In the configuration of the bill housing part according to thisembodiment, the storage means 104 is disposed on the upper wall 102 b,and the storage means 104 is so arranged as to be opposite to the lowerwall 102 c, which is the opening/closing door, while biasing meansabove, the biasing means 106 is so configured as to have such arelationship that it is interposed between a portion serving as theopening/closing lid and the storage means whereby the biasing means(biasing spring) 106, interposed between the lower wall 102 c and thestorage means 104, may become such an obstruction as shown in FIG. 8that a fraudulent activity can be prevented effectively although, forexample, it is attempted to replace the legitimate storage part withanother storage part storing illegitimate information for an illicitpurpose by opening the lower wall 102 c.

In the main body frame 100A, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the presserstandby part in which bills having dropped from a receiving port 103 arekept and held is also provided. A pair of regulatory members 110 areextending in a vertical direction and disposed on both sides of theplacing plate of the press standby part 108. An opening 110A, throughwhich the presser plate 115 passes in a process of successively stackingbills onto the placing plate 105, is formed between the pair ofregulatory members 110.

Further, protruding walls 100B are formed on both side walls inside themain body frame 100A such that the placing plate may hit and contactthereon when the placing plate is pressed by the biasing means 106. Theprotruding walls 100B fulfill a role to stably hold the stacked bills byhit and contact on both sides of the uppermost bill of the stacked billswhen the presser plate is biased by the biasing means as bills aresuccessively stacked on the placing plate 105.

Further, the presser plate 115 that presses bills having fallen in thepress standby part 108 from the receiving port 103 toward the placingplate 105 is arranged in the main body frame 100A. The presser plate 115is formed in such a size that it may be capable of reciprocating throughan opening formed between the pair of regulatory members 110 and isdriven to reciprocate between a position where the bills are pressedonto the placing plate 105 and another position where the press standbypart 108 is opened.

The presser plate 115 is driven to reciprocate as described above via apresser plate driving mechanism 120 installed in the main body frame100A. The presser plate driving mechanism 120 comprises: a pair of linkmembers 115 a and 115 b having respective ends thereof supportedpivotally by the presser plate 115 so as to allow the presser plate 115to reciprocate in an arrow A direction in FIG. 5, and these link members115 a and 115 b are connected in a shape of letter and the other endsopposite to the respective ends are supported pivotally by a movablemember 122 installed movably in a vertical direction (an arrow Bdirection). A rack is formed in the movable member 122 along an arrow Bdirection and geared (engaged) with a pinion constituting the presserplate driving mechanism 120 (the pinion is arranged coaxially with thegear 124B in FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 5, a housing part side gear train 124 constituting thepresser plate driving mechanism 120 is connected to the pinion. In thiscase, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a driving source (amotor 20) and a main body side gear train 21 sequentially engaged withthe motor 20 are installed in the above-described apparatus main body 2,and when the bill housing part 100 is mounted to a stand 2D disposed onthe apparatus main body 2, the main body side gear train 21 is to beconnected to the housing part side gear train 124. The housing part sidegear train 124 comprises a gear 124B installed coaxially with the pinionand gears 124C, 124D to be engaged sequentially with the gear 124B, andwhen the bill housing part 100 is mounted to and demounted from theapparatus main body 2, the gear 124D is configured to be engaged withand disengaged from a final gear 21A of the main body side gear train21.

As a result therefrom, the presser plate 115 is driven to reciprocate inthe arrow A direction as the motor 20 installed in the apparatus mainbody 2 is driven to rotate so as to drive the main body side gear train21 and in turn the presser plate driving mechanism 120 (the housing partside gear train 124, the rack 122A formed in the movable member 122, andthe link members 115 a, 115 b, etc.).

The magnetic sensor 140 detecting that a predetermined number of billsare placed on the placing plate 105 is installed inside the frame 2A ofthe apparatus main body 2. As described above, the magnetic sensor 140is implemented on the sensor board 141 disposed on the plate 2Finterposed between the stand 2D and the frame 2A that constitutes theapparatus main body 2. The magnet 140A that applies the magnetic fieldto the magnetic sensor 140 is fixed to a central portion of a rearsurface of the placing plate 105 of the bill housing part 100.

The magnetic sensor 140 is installed at a predetermined position in adirection in which the placing plate 105 is pressed, the placing plate105 is pressed by the presser plate 115 against the biasing force of thebiasing means 106, and as a loaded amount of bills on the placing plate105 increases and then exceeds a predetermined number of bills, themagnetic field caused by the magnet 140A becomes detected such that thedetection signal is generated. The position at which the magnetic sensor140 is installed (the position at which detection signal is generated)is determined in advance according to a size of the bill housing part tobe mounted, and for example, the magnetic sensor 140 is installed sothat the detection signal is generated before the bills loaded on theplacing plate 105 reaches a predetermined number of bills determined inadvance.

In this case, the magnetic sensor 140 (sensor board 141) may beinstalled at a plurality of locations along the pressing direction ofthe presser plate 115. For example, by installing a magnetic sensor 140Bof the same kind on a further inner side along the pressing directionfrom the magnetic sensor 140 as shown in FIG. 7, it is also possible todetect another number of bills in relation to the bills housed in thebill housing part 100. This configuration is in consideration becauseanother kind of bill housing part 100 having a different housingcapacity may be mounted to the stand 2D, and the other kind of billhousing part 100 having another housing capacity may be mounted to thesame apparatus main body 2, which can accept different kinds of billhousing parts.

Conveyor members 150 which are capable of touching the bill conveyed-infrom the receiving port 103 are installed in the main body frame 100A ofthe bill housing part 100. The conveyor members 150 take their own roleto contact the bill conveyed-in so as to stably guide the bill into anappropriate position in the press standby part 108 (position where thebill can be stably pressed without causing the bill to be moved to theright or left side when the bill is pressed by the presser plate 115).In this embodiment, the conveyor members are constituted of belt-likemembers (hereafter called belts 150) installed so as to face the pressstandby part 108.

In this case, the belts 150 are installed so as to extend along theconveying-in direction with respect to the bill, and are wrapped aroundthe pair of pulleys 150A and 150B supported rotatably on both ends inthe conveying-in direction. Further, the belts 150 contact a conveyorroller 150C extending in an axis direction which is supported rotatablyin the region of the receiving port 103, and the belts 150 and theconveyor roller 150C nip and hold the bill conveyed-in the receivingport 103 therebetween to guide the bill directly to the press standbypart 108. Here, in this embodiment, the pair of belts 150 are providedon the right and left sides, respectively, across the above-describedpresser plate 115 in order to be capable of contacting the surface onleft and right sides of the bill. In addition, the belts 150 may beprevented from loosening by not only being wrapped around the pulleys150A and 150B at the both ends, but also causing tension pulleys to pushthe belts 150 at the intermediate positions, respectively.

The pair of belts 150 are configured to be driven by the motor 13 thatdrives the above-described plurality of conveyor rollers installed inthe apparatus main body 2. In detail, as shown in FIG. 6, theabove-described driving belt 13B driven by the motor 13 is wrappedaround a pulley 13D for the driving force transmission, and a gear train153 installed at the end of the spindle of the pulley 150A supportedrotatably on the receiving port 103 side is engaged with a gear train13E for the power transmission sequentially installed onto the pulley13D. That is, when the bill housing part 100 is mounted to the apparatusmain body 2, an input gear of the gear train 153 is configured to beengaged with a final gear of the gear train 13E, and the pair of belts150 are configured to be driven to rotate in a synchronized manner withthe above-described conveyor rollers 14B, 15B 16B, and 17B for conveyingthe bill by driving the motor 13 to rotate.

Also, the above-mentioned presser plate detecting sensor 23 isconfigured to be capable of detecting a position of the presser plate115 that presses the bill toward the placing plate 105, and further, tobe capable of detecting the mounting or demounting operation when thebill housing part 100 is mounted to or demounted from the stand 2D andthe frame 2A of the apparatus main body 2.

Next, the control means for controlling operations of theabove-mentioned paper sheet processing apparatus will be explained withreference to FIG. 10.

The control means 200 comprises a control circuit board 200A thatcontrols the operations of the above-described respective drive units,and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 210 constituting bill identificationmeans, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 212, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 214,and a reference data storage part 216 are mounted on the control circuitboard.

In the ROM 212, various types of programs such as operation programs forthe respective drive units such as the motor 13 that drives theabove-described bill conveyance mechanism, the motor 20 that drives thepresser plate, the driving source 70 that drives the conveyor roller 14Ato contact/be spaced from the conveyor roller 14B, the motor 40 to drivethe skew driving mechanism 10; an authenticity judgment program for thebill read by the bill reading means 8; and permanent data are stored.The CPU 210 generates control signals according to the programs storedin the ROM 212, carries out the input and output of the signals withrespect to the respective drive units via an I/O port 220, and controlsthe driving of the respective drive units.

Further, detection signals from various detecting sensor 7, the movablepiece passage detecting sensor 12, the discharge detecting sensor 18,the magnetic sensor 140, the presser plate detecting sensor 23 fordetecting the position of the presser plate 115, and the like are to beinput to the CPU 210 via the I/O port 220, and the driving of therespective drive units is controlled on the basis of these detectionsignals.

Further, data and programs used for the operation of the CPU 210 arestored in the RAM 214, and reference data used for the performance of abill authenticity judgment, for example, various types of data acquiredfrom all the printing areas of the legitimate bill (such as data aboutcontrasting density and data about transmitted light or reflected lightwhen the bill is irradiated with infrared ray) are stored as referencedata in the reference data storage part 216. In addition, the referencedata is stored in the dedicated reference data storage part 216.However, the data may be stored in the ROM 212.

Then, a bill reading detection sensor (for example, a line sensor) 80constituting the above-described bill reading means 8 is connected tothe CPU 210 via the I/O port 220, and bill reading data read by the billreading detection sensor 80 is compared with the reference data storedin the reference data storage part 216 such that a bill authenticityjudgment process is executed.

The aforementioned CPU 210 is configured to send the bill informationconcerning information of bills to be housed in the bill housing part tothe reader/writer 142 via the I/O port 220. That is, the CPU 210compares the bill reading data read by the bill reading detection sensor80 with the reference data stored in the reference data storage part 216to execute the bill authenticity judgment process, and, when thecorresponding bill is judged to be authentic, drives the reader/writer142 to execute writing of the information of the bill having been judgedto be authentic into the storage means (ID tag) 104 installed on thebill housing part 100.

Here, in addition to the bill information to be housed (monetaryinformation), information about time of respective insertions of billsand ID information identifying the specific apparatus main body 2 mayalso be stored in association with each other in the storage means 104.In detail, for example, when a specific bill housing part 100 is mountedon the apparatus main body 2, unique ID information provided in advanceto the apparatus main body 2 of the bill processing apparatus 1 is sowritten into the storage part 104 b of the storage means 104 that theapparatus main body 2 and the specific bill housing part 100 areassociated with each other.

The CPU 210 is also configured to send the same bill information aswritten in the storage means 104 by the reader/writer 142 to anexternally connected management server 260 via the I/O port 220, whereinthe thus-sent bill information is associated with the above-describedunique ID information. As shown in FIG. 11, in this embodiment, themanagement server 260 is configured to manage (as a hall computermanaging a game hall) a plurality of gaming machines 300, into which thebill processing apparatuses 1 are incorporated respectively, and each ofthe bill processing apparatuses sends its own bill information ofdeposited amount in association with its unique ID information such thatthe management server 260 stores and manages each monetary informationof deposited amount along with the unique ID information. Here, sendingand receiving of information are performed via the internet or a LANsuch as a dedicated communications network 500 between the managementserver 260 and the respective gaming machines 300 (bill processingapparatuses 1).

In regard to a bill housing part 100 that is removed from theabove-described bill processing apparatus 1, for example, a managementapparatus 280 that reads the information stored in the respectivestorage means (ID tags) 104 may be used as shown in FIG. 11 to managethe bills housed inside. In detail, the management apparatus 280comprises a management controller 281 including a CPU, storage means,and the like, a reader/writer device (R/W device) 282 being capable ofwirelessly reading the deposit information recorded in the storage means(ID tag) 104 incorporated into the bill housing part 100, and a displaydevice 283 such as a display.

In the management apparatus 280, it is possible to check a fraudulentactivity, when the deposit information recorded in the storage means (IDtag) 104 of each bill housing part 100 is read by the reader/writerdevice 282, by performing data collation of the thus-read depositinformation with the deposit information according to each bill housingpart having been recorded in the above-described management server 260(deposit information matching process).

Alternatively, while the display device 283 shows the depositinformation read by the reader/writer device 282, the bills actuallyhoused in the bill housing part 100 are taken out and counted such thatthe deposit information and the counted amount are compared so as tocheck the fraudulent activity. Here, in addition to such a check, adouble check can be performed to improve the reliability by performingthe deposit information matching process as described above with respectto the aforementioned management server 260.

As described above, the bill processing apparatus 1 and the bill housingpart 100 are so associated with the ID information, even after aplurality of bill housing parts 100 are removed from many gamingmachines in order to collect the bills, that the apparatus main bodieson which the corresponding bill housing parts are to be mounted can beeasily located, and further, from the monetary information of the housedbills, it is possible to specify easily which gaming machines 300 havebeen popular.

Also, in each bill processing apparatus 1, the information concerningthe bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 5 and housed in the billhousing part 100 is wirelessly sent and received between thereader/writer 142 serving as the transmitting part and the coil antenna104 c of the storage means (ID tag) 104 as described above such that itis not necessary to install a connection terminal or a power and signalline in each of the apparatuses, which used to be requiredconventionally, whereby the contact failure between connection terminalsof both may not occur. Therefore, the information concerning the billcan thus be provided reliably from the apparatus main body 2 to the billhousing part 100 side.

Also, in the above-described configuration, the coil antenna 104 c ofthe storage means (ID tag) 104 is installed on a surface side (upperwall 102 b) along the direction of mounting-and-demounting of the billhousing part 100 and the reader/writer 142 to serve as the transmittingpart sending the bill information is installed on a portion opposite tothe upper wall 102 of the bill housing part 100 such that it may bepossible to reduce the probability to cause the communications failurebetween them even if the bill housing part 100 is incompletely mountedon the stand 2D to which the frame 2A of the apparatus main body 2 isfixed.

In detail, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the bill housing part 100 ismounted to and demounted from the stand 2D of the apparatus main body 2as the upper wall 102 b and a ceiling plate of the stand 2D which issubstantially parallel to the upper wall 102 b slide with each otherwithout collision. That is, the upper wall 102 b and the ceiling plateare in such a positional relationship that they pass by each other andmovements of both may not cause a collision or a bump (passing-bymovement or structure). For example, such a positional relationship caninclude the case that two bodies relatively moving would not cross asliding surface and such a surface exists [in a distance between twobodies]. The coil antenna 104 c of the storage means (including astorage device) 104 is disposed on the upper wall 102 b and thetransmitting part 142 as a counter part is disposed on the plate 2Farranged on the ceiling plate such that the sliding surface divides anupper side and a lower side. As shown in FIG. 12B, the reader/writer 142and the coil antenna 104 c of the storage means are arranged in adirection perpendicular to a mounting-and-demounting direction of thebill housing part 100 such that a distance L may be produced betweenthem as shown in a right diagram of FIG. 12B if the bill housing part100 is incompletely mounted onto the stand 2D whereby the billinformation may not be sent reliably. In such a case, the upper wall 102b and the ceiling plate of the stand 2D substantially parallel theretoare in the positional relationship of passing-by, but the coil antenna104 c of the storage means 104 and the transmitting part 142 are not inthe positional relationship of passing-by. They contact (collide) witheach other if they move in the mounting-and-demounting direction. On theother hand, as shown in FIG. 12A, the distance L between thereader/writer 142 disposed on the frame side of the apparatus main bodyand the coil antenna 104 c of the storage means 104 disposed on the billhousing 100 side can be made within the range for enablingcommunications thereof in either case of a complete mounting state asshown in a left diagram or of an incomplete mounting state of the billhousing part 100 onto the stand 2D as shown in a right diagram wherebythe possibility of communications failure between them may be reduced.In FIG. 12B, the coil antenna 104 c of the storage means 104 may collideon the transmitting part 142 if they become too close such that both maybe damaged. On the other hand, the possibility to cause thecommunications failure may be increased if they do not become closeenough. In particular, it is possible to keep an optimal positionalrelationship even though there is some misalignment as shown in FIG. 12Aif the antenna 104 c has a receiver sensitivity spreading homogenouslyin parallel to a sliding surface. On the other hand, even though thesending and receiving are made between the reader/writer 142 as a pointand the storage means 104 as another point, the configuration as shownin FIG. 12 is preferable. As shown in FIGS. 12C and 12D, for example,assuming the optimal distance between the reader/writer 142 and thestorage means 104 is P and that the misalignment from the optimaldistance is Q, then the distance between the reader/writer 142 and thestorage means 104 is (P²+Q²)^(0.5) and (P+Q), respectively. If these arecompared, (P+Q) is larger. Here, the coil antenna as referred to so farmay be a loop antenna. For example, a small loop antenna has the maximumdirectionality in a perpendicular direction to the loop surface and nulldirectionality on the loop surface. As the transmission system, anelectromagnetic coupling type (mutual induction system) and a long wavehaving 550 KHz or less may be employed. Further, with a short wave bandhaving 13.56 MHz or a long wave band having 135 KHz or less applied tothe coil antenna, an electromagnetic induction type (inducedelectromagnetic system) which utilizes transmission medium to transmitmagnetic field generated around the antenna may be utilized.

Although the positional relationship of the reader/writer 142 and thestorage means 104 is thus preferably a relationship as shown in FIG.12A, it is of course OK to have a positional relationship as shown inFIG. 12B. Here, in the case of a positional relationship as shown inFIG. 12B, the front wall 102 a as shown in FIG. 7 is preferablyconfigured as the opening/closing lid installed on the bill housing part100. That is, such a positional relationship is arranged that thebiasing means is interposed between the opening/closing lid and thestorage means whereby a fraudulent activity performed on the storagemeans 104 upon opening the opening/closing lid can thereby be preventedeffectively.

Next, the bill processing operation in the bill processing apparatus 1executed by the control means 200 will be described with reference tothe flowcharts of FIGS. 13 to 19.

When an operator inserts a bill into the bill insertion slot 5, theconveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) installed in the vicinity of the billinsertion slot is in a state that the rollers are spaced from each otherin an initial stage (refer to ST16 and ST56 to be described later).Further, with respect to the presser plate 115, the pair of link members115 a, 115 b driving the presser plate 115 are positioned in a pathwayof the press standby part 108, and the presser plate 115 is sopositioned (hereinafter, called “standby position”) that the pair oflink members 115 a, 115 b prevent the bill from being conveyed into thepress standby part 108 from the receiving port 103 (refer to ST134 to bedescribed later). That is, in this state, the presser plate 115 isbrought into the opening 110A formed between the pair of regulatorymembers 110 such that the opening through which the bill passes is in anoccluded state so as to prevent the bill stored in the bill housing partfrom being drawn out.

Moreover, the pair of movable pieces 10A constituting the skewcorrection mechanism 10 located on the downstream side of the conveyorroller pair (14A, 14B) are in a state that the pair of movable pieces10A are moved to leave example, an interval between the pair of movablepieces 10A is 52 mm; refer to ST15 and ST57 to be described later) so asto prevent the bill from being drawn out in the initial stage.

When the above-described pair of conveyor rollers (14A and 14B) are inthe initial state, the operator easily insert a wrinkled bill into thebill insertion slot 5. Then, when the insertion detecting sensor 7detects the insertion of the bill (ST01), the driving motor of theabove-described presser plate 115 is driven to rotate reversely for apredetermined amount (ST02) to move the presser plate 115 to the initialposition. In this initial position, the press standby part 108 is in anopen state (refer to FIG. 5), and the bill can be conveyed into theinside of the bill housing part 100. That is, by driving the motor 20 torotate reversely for a predetermined amount, the presser plate 115 isdriven from the aforementioned standby position to the initial positionvia the main body side gear train 21 and the presser plate drivingmechanism 120 (the housing part side gear train 124, the rack formed onthe movable member 122, and the link members 115 a and 115 b etc.). Thepress standby part 108 is opened by the movement of the presser plate115 such that the bill can be conveyed into the inside of the billhousing part.

In this state, the above-described driving source 70 is driven to movethe upper conveyor roller 14A so as to make a contact with the lowerconveyor roller 14B. In accordance therewith, the inserted bill isnipped and held therebetween by the pair of conveyor rollers (14A and14B) (ST03).

Next, a traveling route opening process is conducted (ST04). The openingprocess is conducted by driving the pair of movable pieces 10A to movein separating directions so as to become apart with each other as themotor 40 for the skew correction mechanism is driven to rotate reverselyas shown in the flow chart of FIG. 16 (ST100). At this time, when it isdetected that the pair of movable pieces 10A have moved to thepredetermined positions (the maximum open width positions) by themovable piece detecting sensor that detects positions of the pair ofmovable pieces 10A (ST101), the driving operation to rotate the motor 40reversely is stopped (ST102). This traveling route opening processallows the bill to enter between the pair of movable pieces 10A. Inaddition, in the previous step of ST04, the bill traveling route 3 is ina closed state by a traveling route closing process (ST15, ST57) to bedescribed later. Thus, the bill traveling route 3 is closed in this waybefore an insertion of the bill so as to prevent an element such as aline sensor from being broken by, for example, inserting a plate-likemember from the bill insertion slot for illicit purposes or the like.

Next, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven to rotate normally (ST05).The bill is carried into the inside of the apparatus by the conveyorroller pair (14A and 14B), and when the movable piece passage detectingsensor 12 installed on the downstream side from the skew correctionmechanism 10 detects the front end of the bill, the bill conveyor motor13 is stopped (ST06 and ST07). At this time, the bill is located betweenthe pair of movable pieces 10A constituting the skew correctionmechanism 10.

Next, the above-described driving source 70 is driven to allow theconveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) holding the bill therebetween tobecome apart from each other (ST08). At this time, the bill is in astate that no load is applied.

Then, a skew correction operating process is executed as the billremains in this state (ST09). The skew correction operating process isconducted by driving the motor 40 for the skew correction mechanism torotate normally to drive the pair of movable pieces 10A to get closerwith each other. That is, in this skew correction operating process, asshown in the flowchart of FIG. 17, the motor 40 described above isdriven to rotate normally to move the pair of movable pieces 10A inrespective directions such that the pair of movable pieces 10A getcloser with each other (ST110). The movement of the movable pieces iscontinued until the interval becomes the minimum width (example; widthof 62 mm) of the bill registered in the reference data storage part inthe control means, and the skew is corrected by the movable pieces 10Atouching both sides of the bill such that the bill may be positioned atthe accurate center position.

When the skew correction operating process as described above iscompleted, a traveling route opening process is subsequently executed(ST10). This process is conducted by moving the pair of movable pieces10A in separating directions as the above-described motor 40 for theskew correction mechanism is driven to rotate reversely (refer to ST100to ST102 of FIG. 16).

Next, the above-described driving source 70 is driven to move the upperconveyor roller 14A to contact the lower conveyor roller 14B, and thebill is nipped and held between the pair of conveyor rollers (14A and14B) (ST11). Thereafter, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven to rotatenormally to carry the bill into the inside of the apparatus, and whenthe bill passes through the bill reading means 8, a bill reading processis executed (ST12 and ST13).

Then, when the bill to be carried passes through the bill reading means8, and the trailing end of the bill is detected by the movable piecedetecting sensor 12 (ST14), a process for closing the bill travelingroute 3 is executed (ST15). In this process, first, as shown in theflowchart of FIG. 18, after the trailing end of the bill is detected bythe movable piece detecting sensor 12, the above-described motor 40 isdriven to rotate normally to move the pair of movable pieces 10A inrespective directions such that the pair of movable pieces 10A getcloser with each other (ST120). Next, when it is sensed by the movablepiece detecting sensor that the movable pieces 10A move to thepredetermined positions (minimum open width positions: for example,width of 52 mm) (ST121), the driving operation of the normal rotation ofthe motor is stopped (ST122).

With this traveling route closing process, the pair of movable pieces10A are moved to the minimum open width positions (width of 52 mm)narrower than the width of any bill allowed to be inserted, therebyeffectively preventing the bill from being drawn out. That is, byexecuting such a bill traveling route closing process, an openingdistance between the movable pieces 10A is made shorter than the widthof the inserted bill, thereby enabling the effective prevention of anaction of drawing-out the bill in the direction toward the insertionslot by the operator for illicit purposes.

In addition, when the movable piece detecting sensor as described abovedetects the movement of the movable pieces 10A in this state, it may beconsidered that the operator is committing some fraudulent activitiessuch that a predetermined processes may be executed. For example, afraudulent manipulated signal (an anomaly sensed signal) may betransmitted to a higher-level apparatus that manages the operations ofthe bill processing apparatus, or an annunciator lamp may be provided onthe bill processing apparatus, and this lamp may flash, or withoutactivating a process for input acceptance (ST22) input by anotheroperator thereafter, a process in which a discharge operation or thelike is forcibly carried out may be executed. Or, appropriate processessuch as canceling the operation of the bill processing apparatus (forexample, a process for stopping the processing, a process fordischarging the bill, and the like) and the like may be executed.

Further, in succession to the traveling route closing process describedabove (ST15), a conveyor roller pair spacing process is executed suchthat the driving source 70 is driven to make the conveyor roller pair(14A, 14B) having been in a state capable of nipping and holding thebill therebetween separate from each other (ST16). By executing theconveyor roller pair spacing process, even if the operator additionallyinserts (double insertion) another bill by mistake, the bill is notsubject to a feeding operation by the conveyor roller pair (14A, 14B)and hits front ends of the pair of movable pieces 10A in a closed stateaccording to ST15 such that it is possible to reliably prevent theoperation of bill double-insertion.

Along with the bill traveling route closing process as mentioned above,when the bill reading means 8 reads the data up to the trailing end ofthe bill, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven for a predeterminedamount and leave the bill stopped at a predetermined position (escrowposition; position where the bill is carried toward the downstream by 13mm from the center position of the bill reading means 8), and at thistime, a bill authenticity judgment process is executed by the controlmeans 200 (ST17 to ST20).

In the bill authenticity judgment process at ST20 as described above,when the bill is judged as a legitimate bill (ST21; Yes), an input fromthe operator is received (ST22). This input corresponds to an acceptanceoperation in which the operator presses an acceptance button in order toaccept provision of services (for example, in the case of a gamingdevice, an acceptance process accompanied by start of a game), and areturn operation in which the operator presses a return button in orderto execute a process for returning the inserted bill.

Then, when an operation to accept the provision of various types ofservices is input (ST23; Yes), the bill conveyor motor 13 isconsecutively driven to rotate normally to convey the bill in this statetoward the bill housing part 100 (ST24). While the bill is conveyed, thebill conveyor motor 13 is driven to rotate normally until the trailingend of the bill is detected by the discharge detecting sensor 18, andafter the trailing end of the bill is detected by the dischargedetecting sensor 18 (ST25), the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven torotate normally by the predetermined amount (ST26 and ST27).

The process for driving the bill conveyor motor 13 to rotate normally inST26 and ST27 corresponds to a driving amount for which the bill isconveyed in the receiving port 103 of the bill housing part 100 from thedischarge slot 3 a on the downstream side of the bill traveling route 3of the apparatus main body 2 so that the pair of belts 150 contact thesurface on both sides of the conveyed-in bill to guide the bill stablyto the press standby part 108. That is, by further driving the billconveyor motor 13 to rotate normally for a predetermined amount afterthe trailing end of the bill is detected by the discharge detectingsensor 18, the pair of belts 150 contact the bill conveyed-in and aredriven in the bill feeding direction so as to guide the bill in a stablestate to the press standby part 108.

Then, after the above-described bill conveyor motor 13 is stopped, theprocess for driving the presser plate 115 is executed (ST28) such thatthe bill is placed on the placing plate 105.

The process for driving the presser plate 115 is executed in accordancewith the flowchart as shown in FIG. 19. First, the driving motor 20 ofthe presser plate 115 is driven to rotate normally for a predetermineamount to move the presser plate 115 staying at the initial position inthe above ST02 until it gets to the pressing position (ST130). Withrespect to the amount of driving to rotate normally the motor 20, if themotor 20 is composed of a DC motor, a predetermined amount of rotationcan be set such that pulses are generated by utilizing, for example, anencoder and the number of the pulses is measured. That is, by drivingthe driving motor 20 to rotate normally for a predetermined amount, thepresser plate 115 is moved from the initial position to the pressingposition via the main body side gear train 21 and the presser platedriving mechanism 120 (the housing part side gear train 124, the rackformed on the movable member 122, and the link members 115 a and 115 band so on).

According to the movement of the presser plate 115, the bill in thepress standby part 108 passes through the opening 110A between the pairof regulatory members 110 so as to be deflected in a U-shape in alaterally symmetrical manner, and the bill is finally pressed onto theplacing plate 105. In this case, since the bill is conveyed to theappropriate pressing position without leaning to either side by the pairof belts 150 as described above, even if the presser plate 115 is moved,the bill is placed on the placing plate 105 stably without jamming orthe like between the presser plate 115 and the pair of regulatorymembers 110.

When the presser plate 115 is moved to the pressing position, thepresser plate 115 is processed to wait (ST131) for a predetermined time(200 ms) at the pressing position so as to place the bill stably on theplacing plate 105, and thereafter, the driving motor 20 of the presserplate 115 is driven to rotate reversely (ST132). Then, when it isdetected by the presser plate detecting sensor 23 that the presser plate115 has moved from the pressing position to the aforementioned standbyposition, the driving of the motor 20 is stopped, and the presser plate115 is stopped in the standby position (ST133: Yes, ST134). As describedabove, the bill cannot be drawn out in this standby position.

In addition, if the presser plate detecting sensor 23 does not detectthat the presser plate 115 has moved from the pressing position to thestandby position within a predetermined period of time, it is consideredthat something is wrong with the stack operation, and the signalexpressing that something is wrong with the stack operation (an errorsignal) is transmitted to an external device, annunciation means, or thelike (ST133; No, ST133A).

As described above, when the presser plate 115 is stopped at the standbyposition, the CPU 210 subsequently sends the read monetary informationof the bill along with the unique ID information assigned to the billprocessing apparatus to the management server 260 (ST135). Therefore,the deposit information sent from each bill processing apparatus is thusrecorded and managed successively by the management server 260.

Then, after sending the deposit information to the management server260, the CPU 210 sends the deposit information to the reader/writer 142(ST136), and the reader/writer 142 writes the deposit information intothe storage means (ID tag) disposed on the bill housing part 100.

Then, after the presser plate 115 is moved from the pressing position tothe standby position, in a case where the magnetic sensor 140 detectsmagnetism provided to the rear surface of the placing plate 105 (ST137;Yes), a detection signal is sent to the CPU 210 to inform that thenumber of bills stacked in the bill housing part 100 approaches thepredetermined number (ST138; No, ST139).

In this embodiment, in designing a detection signal generation as athreshold value from the magnetic sensor 140, the magnetic sensor 140 isinstalled to generate the detection signal before the number of billsstacked on the placing plate 105 reaches the predetermined number (thatis, the predetermined number less nine (9)) in consideration of safelyand easy handling.

Concretely, when the magnetic sensor 140 begins to detect the magnetismemitted by the magnet 140 a, the CPU 210 increments a count repeatedlyat each subsequent bill housing operation (for each operation of housinga single bill) (ST140) and writes the information in the RAM 214. Whenthe count is not exceeding nine (9), the CPU 210 causes a notificationthat the stacker is approaching a full state (ST139). This notificationmay specifically be comprised of a drive signal to be sent to thenotification means configured with a speaker that notifies such a stateby sound, a lamp that notifies the state visually, and so on to make theadministrator and the like notified that the stacker is approaching afull state by means of the sound, lamp, and so on. With thisnotification, the administrator can exchange the bill housing parts 100before the number of bills in the bill housing part 100 reaches thepredetermined number.

Otherwise, the CPU 210 may be configured to send an error signal to themanagement server 260 (see FIG. 10) that manages the operations of billprocessing apparatuses (gaming machine) to enable the state to begrasped in the other location. By this configuration, the timing forremoving the bill housing part 100 can be managed appropriately.

Further, after the magnetic sensor 140 detects the magnetism, when it isdetected that ten (10) or more times the bill stack operation isrepeated without exchanging the bill housing part 100 (ST138; Yes), aprocess of disabling the apparatus is executed in order for bills not tobe further inserted therein (ST138A). With respect to this disablingprocess, for example, a process of stopping the bill conveyor motor 13driving the bill conveyance mechanism 6 described above may be performedin order not to convey the bill inside even if a user inserts a billinto the bill insertion slot. In this way, because no more bills beyondthe predetermined number of bills are thus prevented from being conveyedinto the bill housing part 100, it is possible to prevent components ofthe bill housing part 100 from breaking down.

Also, in the process of ST21 as described above, when the inserted billis judged as a non-legitimate bill or the operator presses the returnbutton (ST23; No), a traveling route opening process is executed (ST51,refer to ST100 to ST102 of FIG. 16), then, the bill conveyor motor 13 isdriven to rotate reversely, and the conveyor roller pair (14A, 14B) arebrought into contact with each other such that the bill waiting at theescrow position is conveyed toward the bill insertion slot 5 (ST52 andST53). Then, when the insertion detecting sensor 7 senses the trailingend of the bill to be returned toward the bill insertion slot 5, thedriving to reversely rotate the bill conveyor motor 13 is stopped, andabove-described driving source 70 is driven to make the conveyor rollerpair (14A and 14B) having been in a state of nipping and holding thebill therebetween separate from each other (ST54 to ST56). Then, thetraveling route closing process is executed (AT57), the motor 20 fordriving the presser plate 115 is driven to rotate forward for apredetermined amount to return the presser plate, which had been movedto the initial position in ST02, to the standby position (ST58), and theseries of processes have been completed.

As mentioned above, the embodiment of the present invention isdescribed. However, the present invention is not limited to theabove-described embodiments, and various modifications of the presentinvention can be implemented.

In the present invention, it suffices that a transmitting part(reader/writer) which wirelessly sends information of a bill insertedfrom a bill insertion slot is installed onto an apparatus main bodyside, and that an antenna wirelessly receiving the information sent fromthe transmitting part and a storage part storing the bill informationreceived from the antenna are disposed on a bill housing part side, andthe other components of the apparatus such as a driving source fordriving the various kinds of driving members as mentioned above or apower transmission mechanism from the driving source may be modified asappropriate. The transmitting part and the antenna receiving theinformation sent from the transmitting part may be modified asappropriate with respect to the configuration and the arrangedpositions.

According to the above-described embodiment of the paper sheetprocessing apparatus, the information of the paper sheet housed in thehousing part after having been inserted from the insertion slot is sentand received between the transmitting part and the antenna by wirelesstransmission such that it is not necessary to install connectionterminals or a power and signal line in the apparatus, whereby anelectrical contact failure of the connection terminals between themwould not occur.

Further, the housing part according to the above-described embodimentcomprises a placing plate on which the paper sheets are placed, a springwhich pushes the placing plate, and an opening/closing door from whichthe paper sheets housed on the placing plate are taken out, wherein thestorage part is installed at an opposite position to the opening/closingdoor with the spring being interposed inbetween.

For example, even if it is attempted to replace the legitimate storagepart with another storage part storing illegitimate information byopening the opening/closing door, such a fraudulent activity can beprevented effectively because the spring is interposed between theopening/closing door and the storage part.

Further, the housing part of the above-mentioned embodiment isconfigured to be mountable to and demountable from a frame constitutingthe apparatus main body, the antenna is installed on a surface sidealong an mounting/demounting direction of the housing part, and thetransmitting part is installed on an opposing surface side of the frameopposite to the surface side of the housing part.

Even if the mounting of the housing part onto the frame of the apparatusmain body is incomplete, for example, a distance between thetransmitting part installed on the frame side and the antenna installedon the housing part side can be maintained within a distance enablingcommunications, a risk of communications failure between both componentscan be reduced.

As described so far, a paper sheet processing apparatus being capable ofreliably providing information concerning the paper sheet to a housingbody side can be provided.

The present invention can be incorporated into various types ofapparatuses to provide products and services by inserting a billthereinto, for example. It is also possible to apply it to a processingdevice to process a paper sheet such as a coupon ticket, not limited to,but including the bill.

What is claimed is:
 1. A paper sheet processing apparatus comprising: amain boy including a conveyer that conveys a paper sheet, the main bodymountable and demountable from a frame; a housing storing the papersheet from the conveyer, the housing mountable and demountable from theframe; and a transmitter disposed on an inner side of the main body andsending wirelessly information of the paper sheet from the conveyer;wherein the housing comprises: an antenna that receives wirelessly theinformation from the transmitting part and is disposed opposite thetransmitting part with respect to an upper wall of the housing; and astorage that stores the information of the paper sheet received throughthe antenna, the antenna includes a loop antenna having a loop surfacesuch that a strongest emission direction of the antenna is perpendicularto the loop surface toward the transmitter, and when the main body andthe housing are mounted to the frame, positions of the main body and thehousing are determined such that the transmitter and the loop surface ofthe loop antenna are parallel to each other.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, further comprising: a validator determining validity of the papersheet from the conveyer; and a controller controlling the validator andthe conveyer, wherein the controller is configured to (a) determinewhether an input is received when the paper sheet is determined to bevalid by the validator; (b) drive the conveyer to convey the paper sheetto the housing when it is determined that the input is received; and (c)transmit paper-sheet-reception information to the storage and ahigher-rank device after the paper sheet is received in the housing. 3.The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configuredto: (d) detecting whether the housing is full after transmitting thepaper-sheet-reception information; and (e) generating a detection signalwhen the housing is detected to be full.